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No. 624,353'. Patented may 2, |899..

' A. H. LIGHTHALL.

MARINE PBOPULSION.

(Application leLJan. 14, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2` UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE.

ALMERIN H. LIGHTHALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HENRY A. MAURER, OF SAME PLACE.

MARINE PROPULSION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 624,353, dated May 2, 1899.

Application le. January 14, 1899. Serial No. 702,169. (No model.)

To all whom t may con/cern.-

Beit known that I, ALMERIN ILLIGHTHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Marine Propulsion; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,

. such as will enable others skilled in the art same, reference .being had tothe accompany-- to which it appertains to make and use the ing drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to marine propulsion. The primary object of the invention is to provide a marine engine of such construction as to allow the propeller to be raised or lowered at will to permit of its'being submerged in water to a depth to give greatest efficiency and to correspond to change of draft of a vessel by reason of lightening of the same by consumption of fuel or discharge of cargo.

Further, the object of the invention is to provide a construction permitting the movement referred to and which will insure a solid body of Water around the propeller for the latter to act upon in propelling the vessel.

Further, the object of the invention is to provide a marine engine of such construction as to allow a propeller and shaft to be raised entirely out o f Water to permit cleaning and repairing without removing the propeller from the shaft.

With these objects in view the invention' consists, essentially, of a vessel having in the stern thereof an open-bottomed well and a propeller-shaft extending through the well and capable of beingraised or lowered.

The invention consists in various novel constructions and details whereby the objects of the invention are accomplished.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of referenceindicate like parts in4 all the views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the stern of a vessel constructed in accordance with myinvention, one side of the vessel being broken away and showing by dotted lines the positions of the parts when the main propeller is depressed. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the main bearthe shaft. Fig. 4 isa plan View showing the arrangement of the main and side shafts and the well in the vessel for the reception of the shaft; and Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the lnotor-wheels by which the propeller-shafts are driven.

In the present embodiment of the invention I have shown avessel provided with three propeller-shafts, each having a motor-wheel thereon for receiving the impact of Water under pressure for imparting movement to it. The central shaft A is provided with a propeller a, and each side shaft A' is provided With a propeller a.

In order that an up-and-down movement may be given the central propeller-shaft without impairing the effectiveness of the motor by which the shaft is rotated, I prefer to use the hydraulic motor shown. The latter is not claimed herein and is only shown and described as being particularly applicable to the construction claimed. y

The means for driving the shafts is shown in Fig. 5 ofthe drawings.V Each shaft has arranged on it a water-Wheel, having on its periphery buckets or vanes, against which water under pressure is directed through suitable nozzles arranged on opposite sides of the respective wheels to revolve the different Wheels in either direction, according to the desired direction of movement of the vessel.

The wheelsB B of the side shafts are mountedin casings B' B', as shown. They are given motion by water under pressure from a pump C; conveyed to suitable nozzles b b and b' b' through pipes b2 292. A three-way 'cock b3 is arranged in each pipe b2, by which the water is directed through the nozzles Z) bor the nozzles b b', as desired, to rotate the Waterwheels BB, and consequently the propellers a a', in either direction.

In order that during the revolution of the propellers a ct to move the vessel in a forward direction they may throw water against whichthey act inward, the inclines of the blades of the respective propellers are oppositely arranged, and during forward Amovement they rotate in 4the direction indicated by the arrows. The result of this is that'during the forward movement of the vessel the volume of water displaced by the side propellers is thrown inward and is acted upon by the central propeller. y

The side propeller-shafts are lixed and are so arranged as to be only slightly submerged in order to avoid danger to them when the vessel is in shallow water.

The central propeller-shaft-A has arranged on its forward end the water-wheels F and G, each provided with buckets or vanes, and these wheels are inclosed within a casing E, which has trunnions mounted in nprights e, permitting the rotation of the casing. Water under pressure to be projected against the `wheels F and G is conducted to the interior ot' the casing through telescoping pipes C',

leading from the pumps C. The water after being projected against the wheels is conducted from the casing E by the tclescoping pipes C2.

The well D, through which the shaft A eX- tends, has no bottom throughout its length, and thus it offers no obstruction to the depression of the shaft A to any desired depth. The well being open, as shown, no impedilment to the even and constant fiow of a cur- .passage of the stern through the water.

The forward face of the casing E has on it a t'hrust-bearin g E', receiving the forward end of the shaft. The thrust-bearing, which is preferably of a construction similar to that shown in application Serial No. 706,728, al-

lows a limited longitudinal movement to the shaft to adapt it to dierent pressures on the propeller.

H represents the main bearing for the propeller-shaft, which is arranged in the well D of the vessel. The bearing and the shaftA are supported and guided in their up-and-down movement bythe arms h, having at the upper ends the cross-pieces h and h2, provided with dovetailed ends, which are received by A correspondingly-shaped guideways d in the sides of the well D and in the housings N N. The bearing H is vpreferably lined with lignum-vitze and has openings h3 in its sides for permitting the inlet of water,whereby the nec-- essary lubrication is supplied to the shaft.

The upper casing of the Well D is formed by the removable plate O, attached to the deck of the vessel by bolts o. The plate has in it openings 0' 0'*2 for the passage of the arms h, and housings N N, having guideways in their inner faces to receive the cross-pieces h2, are attached to the plate O by bolts.

Thelaisiug and lowering of the shaft to give the desired submersion to the propeller may be accomplished in any desired or convenient manner. One means of effecting the raising and lowering is shown in Fig. l of lthe drawings. This consists of the cylinder J, attached to the plate O, having its piston-rod J connected to the bearing H by the link j. The piston is moved up or down in the cylinder to change the position of the shaft A, and consequently of Vthe propeller, by water under pressure supplied through pipes K K', connected, respectively, with the upper and lower ends of the cylinder. The pipes are capable of acting either as inlet 'or exhaust conduits, and thus by admitting water under pressure at one end of the cylinder and exhausting it at the other the shaft may rapidly be raised or lowered to any desired position.

The forward wall of the well D has arranged in it a plate D', capable of moving up or down in a way d', the space between the two being packed to prevent entrance of water from the well to the hold of the ship. A globe-bearj ing D2 is arranged in the plate D', and through this passes the shaft A.

In order that a greater or less quantity of water may be projected against the wheels F and G, as required in driving the propeller c in its different positions, l arrange in the water-chests M', 011 each side of the casing E, in which water under pressure is received from a pump, a series of nozzles N of different areas. Thesenozzles are arranged on sliding plates O', which plates are capable of being moved to bring either of the nozzles on either side of the casing into line with either wheel F or G. The plates Vhave openings through them for the passage of water from the chests to the nozzles. Levers P are connected to the plates, and by these levers the nozzles may be moved at will to any desired position and rigidly retained in place. The nozzles are spherical on their inner ends and are capable of being moved to project Water at any desired angle. As a further means of regulating the quantity of Water projected through the nozzles, plates R are arranged adjacent to the inner ends of the nozzles. These plates have openings r, corresponding in size to the opening in the largest nozzle, and are connected to levers P, by which they may be moved longitudinally to bring the whole or a portion of the area of any of their openings to register with the opening in the nozzle.

In addition to the described means of regulating the speed of movement of the propeller a I provide the shaft A with the two waterwheels -F and G, of diiferent diameter. The nozzles N on each side ofthe casing E are all capableof being brought in line with either of the wheels, and therefore the speed of the revolution of the shaft in either-direction can quickly be changed by bringing water under pressure from either nozzle against either of the wheels, the difference in diameter of the wheels being sufficient to eifect a material change of'speed without manipulation of the other means herein described as provided for the purpose.

IOO

IIO

The construction herein described accomplishes what is impossible by the constructions heretofore employed. sion of the main propeller .to any desirable depth to allow its blades to act on Water of great density is permitted, and a solid body of Water for the action of the propeller and of the rudder is permitted to be formed in rear of the vessel. In rough Water the propeller can be depressed to such a position that it will not be lifted from the water in the pitching of a vessel and therefore a constant impelling power maintained under all conditions.

By removing the plate forming the top of the-Well the shaft extending through the Well and its propeller can be raised entirely7 out of the water, and thus parts can be cleaned or repaired without removing the propeller from By it the depres.

cylinder havin gits piston attached to the bearing and having inlet and exhaust pipes, substantially as described.

3. Avessel having the open-bottomed well, the side propellers having their blades oppositely arranged, and the central propellershaft arranged in the Well, substantially as described.

4. A vessel having the well open at its bot- 5o tom and provided With t-he removable covering-plates, and the pivotally-arranged propeller-shaft extending through the Well, substantially as described. l i

5. A vessel having the open-bottomed Well, in combination with the propeller-shaft extending through the Well` a motor-Wheel on the shaft, and the pivoted casing containing the motor-wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 6o in presence of two witnesses.

ALMERIN H. LIGHTHALL.

` Vitnesses:

DAVID H. MEAD, THOMAS BRADLEY. 

